One of Bristol’s leading charities that feeds homeless people in Bristol city centre has reported a near-tripling of the number of meals they are distributing in just the past week - but what lies behind the startling open letter pleading for help?

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“I am fearful unless action is taken to address the situation and provide safety and security these vulnerable people will fall victim to abuse and be at grave risk of danger, which may result in injury and even further unnecessary deaths due to risks of depression and addiction,” he told Mayor Marvin Rees in the open letter.

But why has the number of people receiving the hot meals in the city centre gone up so dramatically?

Counting the number of homeless people on the streets of Bristol is always a very difficult task.

The city council’s official homelessness charity St Mungo’s attempts it periodically, and admits it’s always an inexact science. And it also seems a distraction - something that dehumanises those individuals to mere numbers.

In the transient world of Bristol’s underbelly, it’s impossible to count everyone. And in any case, not everyone who is homeless is visibly sleeping in a doorway in Broadmead.

Bristol has one of the highest rates of homelessness in the country (Image: Dave Betts/Freelance)

At a recent debate about Bristol’s homelessness problem at the Downs Festival, a panel which included Mr Talukdar, Jasper Thompson from Help Bristol’s Homeless, Alex Wallace from Caring in Bristol, and council housing lead Paul Smith, all agreed the number of people sleeping in the streets in the city centre was only the tip of a huge iceberg, and there might be 100 other homeless people in Bristol for every two or three people in a sleeping bag in a shop doorway.

At that event, Mr Wallace stunned the audience with figures that showed that the 'street homeless' people see sleeping in doorways in Bristol account for only 3 per cent of the city's homeless.

His organisation, Caring in Bristol, run one of the city's hostels that is still open - close to Cabot Circus - and has added extra space to try to deal with the fall-out from the closure of Julian House.

St Mungo’s has a long list of situations and circumstances that are classed as homeless, and only one of them is ‘sleeping in the street’. They could be in a tent, in a van, in a car, in some kind of squat or empty building, sofa-surfing, on a mate’s floor, or in a hostel already.

Counting them, or knowing how many are out there, is so difficult because people move between those situations.

In the first place, the numbers he refers to are the total number of people who received a free hot meal in the city centre.

While they were clearly in need of a hot meal, they might not necessarily be ‘street homeless’.

But why the sudden rise?

Mr Talukdar cited the temporary closure of two of the city’s long-established places that help the homeless: the Julian House shelter, and the Wild Goose.

The Julian House shelter has beds for 17 people, and has closed temporarily for refurbishment. It also gives out hot meals to around 150 people a night - and those people are now seeking out Feed the Homeless Bristol's meals instead.

What many involved in the volunteer sector helping the homeless in Bristol agree is that, firstly, many of those who were fed and watered at the Goose weren’t ‘street homeless’, but secondly that it is this - rather than the Julian House closure - that has prompted the rise in demand for Feed the Homeless Bristol’s meals.

So it is almost certainly the case that the more-than-doubling of the numbers of people being fed by Feed the Homeless does not necessarily mean the number of people sleeping on the streets has suddenly doubled.

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But, those involved in the volunteer effort agree, the numbers of people who are sleeping on the streets has gone up noticeably this summer and now into the autumn.

Cllr Paul Smith, the cabinet member for housing, and the man ultimately responsible for the task of solving Bristol’s housing crisis, said dealing with the tide of people ending up on the streets ‘sometimes feels like trying to empty the ocean with a bucket’.

“No one I have talked to understands why there has been such a dramatic rise,” he said.

“We are working to get St Anne’s House approved, against significant local opposition, other empty buildings have been opened up over the last year. Bristol has a record amount of homeless provision but sometimes it feels like trying to empty the ocean with a bucket.

“The underlying causes are problems of welfare cuts - reductions in health and support provisions have not changed,” he added.

“The number of people wanting food could easily have tripled due to the Julian Trust and Wild Goose closures, but that is not the same as homelessness tripling,” he added.

Changes to benefit payments, the roll out of Universal Credit and an increase in the number of people who end up without a roof over their head because they suddenly find their benefits have been sanctioned, stopped, frozen or altered is rising exponentially.

This is visible as a trend in figures which show that, for the first time, the reason for homelessness recorded by Bristol City Council was eviction from private rented accommodation, rather than the myriad other reasons, like a family relationship breakdown - which is still the top reason for young people - or the loss of a home because of mortgage repossession.

One commenter wondered aloud if the time of year had anything to do with it. Bristol is a city with two huge universities and a massive student population that disappears in May or June and returns in September.

One theory is that, during the summer, landlords look for short-lets and then move people out in September when the students arrive.

Cllr Smith thinks it could be a factor, but not completely. “It could be an increase in evictions as students come back, but I honestly don’t know. It has not tripled though and the numbers have been building throughout the summer,” he said.

Another factor that is recognised by all involved is that Bristol is the major urban hub for the South West region, and is known as a place with more and cheaper accommodation than many surrounding rural areas. It's also known as a place with more support services for those in crisis than other areas.

So the city has long acted as a historic magnet for anyone in crisis with their housing circumstances - a young person with nowhere to stay in rural North Wiltshire, for example, is more likely to think they could find somewhere in Bristol than in Chippenham.

Heat map of England showing Bristol as one of the worst areas for homelessness in the country. (Image: Shelter UK)

But one of the main problems is that when they arrive in Bristol, the city council is under no obligation to house them - there are more than 10,000 people from Bristol itself on the housing waiting list, and to get on that list you need to have a local connection. Even moving into the city centre from Kingswood - in South Gloucestershire - doesn't count, and that leaves those coming into the city looking for a bed with an even greater challenge.

Ultimately, the issue is ever more complex, and tough to solve. Despite the temporary closure of a shelter and a community centre, Bristol still has a greater provision for the homeless than it has ever had. The problem is, it has more people needing help than ever before, too.